The breakfast buffet was disappointing. Whereas the dining area was much more pleasant than yesterdays, there was no hot food on offer (normally B&B supply scrambled eggs and ham). Never mind  I pack the bike and set off at the crack of ten oclock.

It is Sunday, after all

Its a muggy, mild morning with a high overcast beginning to break up to the southwest - which is the direction I am heading today.

About ten minutes into the ride, I get my first view of the Mediterranean and pull over to the side of the road and take off my heated jacket. I hadnt had it plugged in, and was wearing it more out of habit than anything else (I havent got a thermal liner in my jacket). But this morning its already 60° F and humid  so the liner is banished to the pannier. It feels good to be riding in lighter weight kit  if the cloud will just burn off, there is the making of a lovely days weather

Bettie has directed me - again - down the old highway, which was here before the AutoRoute. To the right, beyond the vineyards...

It's a pleasant, but unengaging ride - but probably a lot nicer than being back in the UK...

I keep the speed pretty close to the limit and saunter along, enjoying the warmth (and dryness)...

Bettie steers me through a number of small towns...

I stop at the roadside to get a better look at the horizon...

...where the Pyrenees, swathed in cloud, are coming into view.

The temperature is slowly climbing through the mid-sixties and - quite suddenly - a large proportion of the cloud burns off and the day starts to realise its potential...

It's glorious. I can feel the sun hot on my face and all's well with the world...

Time to tackle the Pyrenees, I think...

I come across this road sign. I have no idea what it restricts (unless it means no car bombs or cars that are on fire - the numbers of which, I would think, would be unlikely to be greatly reduced by the posting of a sign). Anyone?

Ultimately, the traffic comes to a virtual halt, as we enter the border town of Le Perthus...

Border towns the world over have the same feel - a bit seedy and scruffy. We've passed several stores at the roadside offering stuff for sale that is more expensive the other side of the border - this will undoubtedly be mirrored on the Spanish side...

La Perthus is heaving, though - business is good...

Like most European borders, the posts are unmanned...

I notice my phone - plugged into its new cable in the map pocket of my tank bag - isn't charging. I check it and find that the new cable has failed...

There are trucks parked everywhere for the next few miles. Like all other border towns, the local economy adapts to exploit its transitory customers...

I wander what train of circumstances led to these girls plying their trade in a (deserted) rest area this Sunday morning? They were at least more subtle than the last truck stop, where one of the girls was just wearing underwear...

I am approaching Figueres, birthplace of Salvador Dali. I spent a few days with Jorge & Sheila (ADVriders Rubber Cow & Rubber Frau) here a few years back. I turn off and ride trough the town, but can't seem to find the main square...

I re-join the highway and continue to press southwest...

I notice some movement behind the grill on this trailer - he has three small dogs in there...

One thing I have noticed in France and now in Spain - Sunday is definitely not a business day. In the UK it's almost the same as a weekday (but with slightly shorter opening hours), but here I pass through huge lines of retail warehouses, all shut.

Unfortunately, all the restaurants are shut too...

I am contemplating doing the unthinkable - going to MacDonalds - when I spot a cafe open for business...

I am served with a delicious pizza...

Whilst I wait for it to arrive I notice that it's not just the Brits who seem besotted with the British Royal family...

I am also forced to have this...

...which tastes better than it looks. And it looks pretty good...

...I spend a few minutes contemplating life, the universe and my expanding girth, before someone lighting a cigarette at the next table spurs me into getting kitted back up and making tracks.

The thermometer on my bike reads just over 80° F, although it's in full sun. It is warm though - in the low 70s I'd think...

For several miles, I ride through a series of retail parks, industrial zooms and town centres - they all merge together...

Traffic is heavy and road users are not paying as much attention as they might...

...so I have to keep my wits about me. No easy thing when you're digesting a large lunch. Perhaps that's why they invented the siesta...

Eventually I'm on a (slightly) more open road and looking with concern at the build-up of cloud ahead. I chose today's route specifically because there was no forecast precipitation...

Autumn colours are everywhere - beautiful...

Onwards!

I get routed through a couple more town centres, some of which have some interesting architecture...

I fill up at 1415. The guy behind the counter had to swipe my card twice, as the first time he couldn't get a connection. When this has happened in the UK, I'm generally given a slip showing the transaction was void - not so here. I ask and he suddenly doesn't understand English nearly so well. I think it's legit, though...

Random Dali-sequel sculpture on roundabouts...

There were lots of stands of these trees (birch?) - so many that they must be grown as a crop - any idea what this timber might be used for?

You didn't think you were going to get away without a picture of a bridge today, did you?

They have speed cameras here too, although these all seem to be signed. They look like this...

very nice.........looking forward to the next installment!!!! My wife spent a month in Paris last summer, had a blast and is now buggin me to go back with her, maybe I will, and find a bike to explore with while she does her art thing!!!!!!!!

Suggestions - set Betty to find Teruel, Cuenca, Alarcon...if you're headed into Castille proper, then Segovia and Toledo.
If you're trying to follow the sun then head to Cordoba and Granada, Malaga, Torremolinos, etc
If you're trying to follow a more gastronomical path then head up to Galicia- Vigo, Santiago, Bilbao and the Basque Country- you might find more rain however......the views and food might make it worthwhile...and, you can hit the Bordeaux region on your way back home! You could, of course, just as easily hop a ferry to Africa...
The Paradores Nacionales might be running off-season specials that may make staying in a castle more affordable and, although they might not have WiFi, they do specialize in the the regional cuisine of the area.

I sleep well and Im loading the bike at about 0800 on a bright and sunny day...

Whatever rain fell overnight has long gone and Im looking forward to todays ride. I make a last trip to my room, in Schindler's Lift...

Before returning to have breakfast...

It's an excellent spread, including a suspicious looking sausage...

...which I decide to avoid. I snaffle some food for lunch, then say adios and head for the bike.

It's now just before 0900 on a Monday morning. I am caught in a seemingly interminable series of back roads, trying to get back to the ring road - local Spanish yummy mummies doing the school run. It's chaos...

I eventually get onto the ring road and discover that the hotel I stayed at is, in fact, 10 km north of Barcelona, so I slowly wend my way through the city centre. Still, it's 60° F already, the sun is shining - what's the problem?

Quite suddenly, all six lanes are stopped at a red light. I think to begin with that it's to allow traffic to merge from the tunnel emerging to my left, but no traffic emerges until all the lights turn green again. It wasn't a junction and this was not a pedestrian area. I guess I must have missed something...

Bettie sends me on the diagonal across town, which is occasionally clear, and occasionally snarled completely...

As ever, the main threat opt everyone's safety is the low flying scooters, which appear in their hundreds...

...being ridden as if there's no tomorrow. Which will eventually prove to be true for some of them.

Barcelona is famous for its art (particularly the ceramic art of Antoni Gaudi) and architecture. You're not going to see any.

Well, maybe one bit...

OK, so this isnt an Antoni Gaudi creation. This sculpture, named Woman and Bird was created by Joan Miro, another (a bit less) famous Spanish artist, who I suspect was at least a bit inspired by Antoni Gaudi. It's the only thing I saw during the hour it took me to cross Barcelona...

Bettie eventually spits me out onto a large dual carriageway heading southwest down the Mediterranean coast. The hotel on the right had a huge domed terrarium on its roof - reminded me of Silent Running...

Pretty soon I turn off the motorway and get onto the coast road. It does not disappoint...

The air is clear and the view up the bay, with its waves breaking, is beautiful. A hundred yachts roll gently in the swell in the marina. It's 70° F now and it's difficult to envisage better weather to be on a motorcycle in this part of the world...

To begin with, I'm stuck behind some traffic. There's no visibility for a safe overtake here, even if there wasn't a solid line in the middle of the road, so I just take my time and enjoy the view...

Back in Norfolk they'll be building bonfires for our annual burning of anti government effigies.

Think I'd rather be here, on balance...

I have a bit of a headache and stop at a pharmacy to buy some paracetemol (Tylenol, for my readers in the USA). I'm rather impressed by the dispensary, demonstrated to me by the very pleasant Vanessa...

All medications are kept behind the glass wall you can see behind Vanessa. She types a code into the computer and the drug is retrieved mechanically and drops down the spiral chute you can see. Vanessa explains (I think I have this right) that prescriptions have a code which needs to be entered before any controlled drug can be dispensed - this makes falsifying prescriptions much more difficult. Vanessa kindly gives me a glass of water and I take a tablet there and then.

I also note that they have a 24hr-automated service...

...although understandably, there are restrictions on what is available.

Onward!

I've set myself quite an optimistic target for today - Albacete. Bettie's route is a bit longer - over 600 km - than I had originally envisaged (she is keeping me off toll roads). I stop for fuel, opposite an unfeasibly tall chimney and check to see if they have an iPhone charging cable - they don't...

I contemplate my ETA - 1750 without stops. It's too late. By the time I've stopped for fuel (and I'm going to be using a three stop strategy today) and lunch, I'll be riding the last hour and a half in the dark...

I carry on and decide that I'll cut a corner when it seems right...

Never seen a footbridge with a wheelchair access lift before...

Bettie's route keeps me on the coastal road - through Tarragona...

...which has a great piece of statuary in the main square.

Eventually Bettie steers me to a junction where the road is completely closed and no diversion signed. I decide that this is the time to cut the corner and get some time off my ETA. I recalculate the route allowing the use of toll roads and - as if by magic - two hours are shaved from the route. I will now be arriving at about 1630 (plus stops)- that sounds more like it.

I get on the toll road...

...and set the speed at about 130kph.

The motorway is virtually empty. I criss-cross the old road, which is thick with traffic - clearly avoiding the cost of tolls.

From a government's point of view it's a fine balance, isn't it? Ideally the tolls should just be at the level that makes them a good choice. Pitch them too low and the everyone will be on the tolls and choke it up. Pitch it too high (as I think they may have here) and you have choked standard roads and underused tolls (and a subsequent drop in revenue). Of course, the current rate might not have appeared too high before the recession hit home

Anyway, for today, they are the ideal option for me. I make great time heading for Valencia...

Are these olives? If so, I stop by an olive grove for a spot of lunch...

...courtesy of the Hotel Sidorme's breakfast buffet.

I have two small ham, cheese and tomato rolls and an apple. I also drink a litre of water (which I bought whilst refuelling). I'm usually fanatical about keeping hydrated, but have not brought my CamelBak with me (D'Oh!) - I'm clearly in winter riding mode. I'll just keep stopping and drinking.

Back on the road and it's glorious - 80° F and sunny - a few mare's tales of cirrus in otherwise unbroken blue...

The world moves past at 130kph - occasionally there will be a hilltop fort or something to look at...

...and everywhere there are vineyards and olive groves...

Ooh look - a Lego bridge...

Be serious - how thirsty would you have to be?

Another fuel stop - they don't have a cable for my iPhone either. Sod it - I'll listen to music anyway - it can run flat...

I ride off to the sound of the Killers and crank the speed back up to 130kph...

I eventually come to the tollbooths - 22.35 Ouch! No wonder the bloody roads are empty...

I then head inland along further soulless dual carriageways...

...have a final fuel stop and then spot this old gentleman rusting away on a garage forecourt...

Can anyone identify the make, model and year for me?

And then, at Requena, I am directed onto the N322, which has just been rebuilt and resurfaced.

What a road!

There are long straights, followed by mile after mile of beautiful sweeping bends. There is NO traffic - I think I overtake a total of four cars in the 100km I ride - and the road surface is perfect...

...I'm also feeling ready for a fast ride and have one of those (increasingly rare) rides where I seem to be able to get everything right (in a complete contrast to my normal riding, as anyone who has accompanied me will vouch )...

...it's helped by being as good a piece of road as I've ever ridden and the complete lack of traffic makes it a slightly surreal experience...

Eventually I slow down as I approach Albacete just before 1700. After a quick ride around town...

...I ride through the Lego quarter...

...and soon find my hotel...

Where I check in to my very modern and pleasant room...

...with its outstanding shower...

...before riding down to the local shopping mall...

...and walking up their sloping escalator to do some shopping. I buy an iPhone USB lead for 5, some fruit and something for dinner. They have some impressive looking hams on display...

...I can remember seeing ones like this curing on stands by the roadside back in 2003 when I went to Gibraltar with Boxertools (RIP) and Bilks...

Back at the hotel I find that the Wi-Fi upload speed is pretty slow, so I read my current book (Bomb Hunters by Sean Rayment - recommended) whilst I wait for SmugMug to do its stuff.

I spent yesterday catching up on sleep and doing some reading - I think the first couple of days really took it out of me...

However, today I am awake at 0700 and raring to go. After abluting and having a light breakfast (and snaffling two bananas for later), I walk out to pack the bike...

A soft rain has just started falling from a bright overcast sky. I check the bike over and see that the oil level is now halfway down the sight glass. I'll consider putting a litre in when it gets near the bottom - long periods of high speed, particularly in high ambient temperatures, can make the Adv use oil, even at this advanced age...

I finish checking out of the hotel, then get kitted up in waterproof mode. I put the shower cap on the tank bag, put on my lightweight waterproof gloves and plug in my heated jacket. I'm on the road at 0845 heading southwest along the N322...

The autumn colours are vivid...

Pretty soon the rain stops and I go into dry weather mode...

I notice that the pair of running lights I have fitted - each if which has three LED lights - have identical failures - each now has two LEDs working.

Onward!

The N322 this side of Albacete is as good as it is the other - a great road, although I have to keep my speed down due to the wet road surface. It passes through several small villages - I hardly see a soul...

I'm reminded to watch my speed regularly. I also see several police vehicles. The local police have small patrol vehicles, but I notice that the traffic police have Alfa Romeos.

Sometimes the road is as straight as a ruler for miles...

I get the impression this is a poor area - the fields that are tilled are full of rocks...

There are wind farms everywhere. This is Don Quixote country...

...he'd have a job tilting at windmills this size.

Random ruin - no sign to suggest what it might have been...

The few cattle I see have huge cowbells around their necks...

Olive groves appear on every spare bit of land...

...making the landscape almost looks like a piece of candlewick...

There's a fairly stiff breeze blowing, so I have to keep an eye out for vegetation on the road...

As I round a left hand bend there's a flash of movement from right to left in front of me as two deer bound up the bank to my left...

...where one of them watches me for a few seconds, before turning and trotting off into the brush...

I'm assuming they are deer - wild goats perhaps??

The road surface is beginning to dry out, and the bends become more fun...

...this is a lovely part of the world - and this is a great time of year to be here...

I take a breather and scoff the contraband bananas...

Not too many takers for the picnic area at this temperature, though...

Right - let's get going.

Almost immediately, I ride into a small town with a beautiful avenue of plane trees in its main street...

Random warnings are everywhere...

Blue sky makes an appearance on the horizon - huzzah!

Odd-looking rock formation with caves...

More and more of the landscape is devoted to olive groves...

...the trees are spaced this way so that vehicles can move between and around them - the tyres tracks visible in the soft reddish mud...

Some local is just finishing off this house - complete with en-suite windmill...

It's 1100 when I cross into Andalucía. The intermittent rain stops almost at the border and the sun comes out...

Now here, olives are farmed on an industrial scale. I see no sign of small farms, just massive factory units every few miles...

I stop for fuel at 1110 and drink some water, noticing that the local police have little 4x4s up here...

It's turning into a nice day...

...but I'm over half a mile high up here...

...so I don't make assumptions about the weather staying this way...

Generations of sheep or goats trudging on the same trails year in, year out have left their mark on this hill like contour lines on a map.

I assumed this sign meant bad road surface (I have turned onto a small county road and the surface is pretty crap) - but I have just done a translation on it and it would appear it may 'No Road Signs' - can anyone help me out with this one?

From time to time there is evidence of where a landslip has been cleared away...

Fortunately, there are enough clues approaching these sites to allow me to slow down and negotiate them carefully...

Onward!

At midday I ride into the hilltop town of Hornos...

...where buildings fit into the gaps between natural rock formations...

The views are stunning...

...and the roads narrow and cobbled...

Right - time to wave farewell to Hornos...

...we have a long way to go yet. I ride down the right side of the lake you can see from Hornos. It's a man made lake and the water level is low. Ultimately I arrive at the dam at its head...

Not too exciting, really...

I keep pressing along the valley...

Spot the dam?

The road surface is improved here...

...without too many potholes, but still with evidence of landslips - which clearly occur regularly...

This spectacular waterfall high to my right...

...fed straight into a culvert beneath the road...

It is turning into a glorious day - 70 F and hardly any breeze...

Huge bushes of cacti (prickly pear?), line the road for a while...

Time to get moving - I'm getting hungry...

I very briefly join the N322 again - and spot this old gent adorning the roadside...

Aside from being - obviously - what is generically known as a steam roller in the UK - can anyone shed any light as to how old it might be etc?

I am headed beyond that horizon - there's still a lot of cloud around those hills...

Where I am now, though - it's lovely...

I start climbing again, and the weather turns a little duller...

Time for lunch, then...

The special is:

...a good, sticky paella to start, followed by...

...calamari. Can't get much more Spanish than that!

Both dishes were piping hot and delicious. I forgo dessert and have a coffee instead - all for 9.

The light in the Gents toilet might not have passed Health & Safety...

Replete, I step out of the restaurant to find a steady drizzle falling. I get kitted up and set off...

I'm in the middle of hundreds of acres of olive groves now. They come up to the edge of the road and this is the kind of view I have for most of the next hour or so...

I stop at an overlook for this pic...

...which gives you some idea of the scale of the operation. The two irregularly shaped grey areas near the middle of the pic are arrays of solar panels...

This range of hills with its rocky crest straddled the landscape like a huge half buried stegosaurus...

The road still had a lot of fun in it, though...

I fill up again at 1600. I'm going to be joining the dual carriageway for the last push soon, and won't make it on my remaining fuel...

I notice mile after mile of irrigation duct on the left side of the road...

...and that the Adv has just rolled over 160k miles...

I join the dual carriageway towards Granada just as the rainfall starts to get heavy - good timing...

It looks like Hell on toast ahead, but the road always jinks away from the worst weather, just as I'm bracing for it...

I set my speed at 130kph and head towards Granada. Apart from a few hairy minutes when we descended through cloud, it was a good run, and Granada appeared out of the murk...

Interesting way to advise you to keep your distance...

In no time at all, I'm checking into the Hotel Sidorme...

...which has - as an added bonus for my 35 per night - secure underground parking

After dumping my gear in my room, I walk to the Carrefour supermarket next door to buy some dinner. I notice that Spanish ladies are being treated to the 'Shades of Grey' books...